United States, Mystery, Short Stories, Suspense 

A collection of short stories of crime and suspense includes the title novella in which two teenage boys find their lives utterly changed when they befriend a bank robber.

Each of the 17 stories in this book is a gem: though a few are flawed, the best gleam in perfection. In the chillingly superb title story, the efforts of two teenage boys to befriend an escaped bank robber yield deadly results; " Mother Darkness" is a shocking tale of a social worker with her own unresolved issues; and "Out There in the Darkness," the outstanding closing story, examines a neighborhood watch program that takes the law into its own hands. Gorman's technique is to take average people, place them in extraordinary situations, and then let the story wind itself out. Occasionally, this approach results in dreary sentimentality, as in "Render unto Caesar," about two men who try to save a teenage bride from her abusive husband, but on the whole, it works superbly.